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> Ah the old, "there's a conspiracy to suppress what my side thinks in the news".

The article doesn't say that at all. The article complains about the apathy, it doesn't imply any conspiracy.

I'm not addressing your post, or the situation in Venezuela at all, but:

> If the country was really anti-Maduro, it wouldn't have voted for him ten months ago

Elections can be rigged. Votes can be bought. There always need to be more datapoints than just that.

I can't fund much about the 2013 election, but Jimmy Carter had this to say about 2012: """ "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," Mr. Carter said, noting the center's extensive work monitoring elections around the globe. """

The reference: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/why-us-...

Check out the media coverage table on pg 34.

"Comparing average coverage by private and state media outlets in Figures 1 and 2, we find imbalance in the tone of coverage among both but find it more pronounced among state media. On the one hand, in state-owned television, 95 percent of reporting was positive about Hugo Chávez, while in private outlets this number reached 48 percent." (pg34)

"...NGOs monitoring the campaign, such as Transparencia Venezuela and Grupo La Colina, have indicated broad use of government resources to support the Chávez campaign, such as vehicles to transport campaign workers and supporters to marches and also on voting day." (pg43)

"In the Venezuelan context, safeguards to prevent the abuses of ventajismo or to make violations of the law costly not just financially but politically, in terms of imposing sanctions against the perpetrating campaign, are crucially missing." (pg43)

http://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/news/peace_public...

So, you're okay with the president decreeing protests as illegal, military killing people and sending the opposition leader to jail? In a country where the state controls the media outlets? As long as the president is elected democratically, the guy should just shut up and put up with the lack of coverage from international media?

Nice rationalization.

I think it's important, regardless of this blogger's slant, that we see in international news outlets the fact that the national guard is shooting civilians. Even if you dismiss his claims of paramilitary action as being partisan exaggeration, surely you can see why it's important to note that the government is deploying the actual military -- something you can see plainly in those videos -- against its own people? Our own President (US) just recently warned Ukraine not to go down this exact same path.

Venezuela has one of the most notoriously corrupt and likely rigged election systems out there. No sane person thinks the election results were accurate.

You will need to provide proof for this other than "I said so". The electoral system in Venezuela has been audited numerous times by international organizations and deemed to be fair. PLEASE try to understand that the Venezuela you see on the news is not close to the majority of the country. Most of the country is still quite poor, but - they have voting power!

- A Venezuelan expat

I happen to know someone (through a third party) who grew up with Chavez and was very close to him up until the last few years prior to his death. Early elections were legit, after that they were all rigged.

I believe this.

The electoral system itself can be audited and found to be fair. However, it's unfair to:

* Abuse the State's massive control of the media in favor of the ruling party.

* Threaten people, fire them from their government positions, deny scholarships, or otherwise attack people for being against the government(see: Lista Tascón).

* Shamelessly use resources of the State for political propaganda in favor of the ruling party.

* Take power away from elected officials and create alternate institutions to replace them, when the electoral results don't favor the ruling party (see: Caracas Mayor).

* Deny audits after an election, an integral part of fair elections.

* Finally: kill, attack or detain people for opposing the ruling party, which is what's going on as of this moment while we type comments here.

So whether the voting machines work correctly is far from the only thing needed to consider elections fair.

- Another Venezuelan expat

Are you serious? Did you follow the elections? All the surveys were saying Maduro would lose, then he wins by 500 votes?

If it doesn't have much appeal then why do they feel the need to terrorize middle class neighborhoods as they article states?

Just because it's unreported doesn't mean there's a conspiracy. The media acts in their own interests. If they can't tell this story in a compelling way that sells ads then they won't. No conspiracy to suppress.

But if police are roaming around the city on motorcycles, shooting protestors then this is world news.

The Maduro vote was rigged, how do I know? I happen to have connections who were very close to Chavez. That's the most I will say.

I am glad you watched a documentary and felt as if you now have a good understanding as to what is happening in Venezuela . Just like right-wing people get their news from conservative, mainstream media, there are those who try to justify their inner ideologies and believes by thinking that the information they get from an old-fashion group of leftys is just, fair and even objective.